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To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in reforming environmental, social, and governance rules to ensure that they are not used by financial institutions to deny banking services, including loans, to the UK defence sector.
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in reforming environmental, social, and governance rules to ensure that they are not used by financial institutions to deny banking services, including loans, to the UK defence sector.
The government recognises the vital contribution that the UK defence sector makes to national security and has been clear that investing in defence can be consistent with ethical investing and environmental, social and governance principles.
Last year the government laid secondary legislation to bring the provision of Environmental, Social and Governance ratings into scope of the FCA’s rule making powers. This will allow provide greater transparency around ESG ratings methodologies, support greater investor awareness – including for opportunities relating to defence companies.
The upcoming Defence Finance and Investment Strategy will look at how barriers to investment in defence can be removed while making the sector more attractive for private investment, including venture capital, private equity and pension funds.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), what assessment they have made of whether late payments may be the fault of a third party or a bank; and whether such payments should be subject to statutory interest.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), what assessment they have made of whether late payments may be the fault of a third party or a bank; and whether such payments should be subject to statutory interest.
The Government has not made a specific assessment of late payments being caused by third parties or a bank, but it does recognise late payments are often accidental and can arise due to issues with systems.
The Commercial Payments Bill preserves and strengthens the existing statutory interest regime, under which statutory interest arises where a qualifying payment is made late. Where a qualifying debt remains unpaid after the relevant date, statutory interest will generally accrue even if the purchaser attributes the delay to its bank, payment provider or another third party begins to run and strengthens enforcement of payment obligations.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1078), in which scenarios the Secretary of State would consider adopting a business-size definition different to existing definitions.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1078), in which scenarios the Secretary of State would consider adopting a business-size definition different to existing definitions.
For the purpose of exemptions to maximum payment terms under the Commercial Payments Bill, the Government will consider aligning with business size definitions in existing legislation. Definitions of business sizes will be set out in secondary legislation, following consultation with stakeholders. Any departure from an established definition will therefore require a clear and evidenced justification.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1078), whether businesses will be expected to determine their own size, and that of their business partners.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1078), whether businesses will be expected to determine their own size, and that of their business partners.
For the purposes of the Commercial Payments Bill there is no general requirement for businesses to establish their size or that of their partners. Certain categories of business, will be able to benefit from exemptions from maximum payment terms – on the basis of size. Therefore, businesses wanting to rely on these exemptions will need to ensure they fall within the relevant category. This should be simple and pose minimal burden for those businesses seeking exemptions. Business size thresholds will be confirmed through regulations following a consultation with stakeholders.
The Small Business Commissioner will be able to examine whether the relevant size conditions have been met and take appropriate action where an exemption has been claimed improperly.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), whether they plan to review the 60-day maximum payment term for non-public authorities; and what plans they have, if any, to incentivise early payment.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), whether they plan to review the 60-day maximum payment term for non-public authorities; and what plans they have, if any, to incentivise early payment.
Large businesses are required to publish payment data through the Payment Practices and Performance Reporting Regulations 2017. The effects and impact of the Commercial Payments Bill will be monitored following its implementation. Sixty days is a maximum, not a target. The Government will continue to encourage businesses to agree and meet shorter payment terms. We will continue our work to encourage businesses to pay even faster with the Small Business Commissioner who administers the Fair Payment Code, encouraging businesses to pay in 30 days.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1070), what assessment they have made of whether commercial contracts subject to sections 233, 233A and 233B of the Insolvency Act 1986 are treated differently to other creditors.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb col 1070), what assessment they have made of whether commercial contracts subject to sections 233, 233A and 233B of the Insolvency Act 1986 are treated differently to other creditors.
All creditors in an insolvency are treated equally in their class according to a strict statutory priority. Without the provisions in sections 233 to 233B Insolvency Act 1986, essential suppliers could demand payment of existing debt, thereby undermining this priority. The provisions strike an important balance between the rights of the supplier and the benefits of business rescue, with mitigations included to prevent hardship. A 2023 review of the provisions found early positive signs that they are meeting their objectives and produced an estimated ongoing annual benefit to business creditors from increased company rescue of £73.2m.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the new section 2E(2) of the Commercial Payments and Interest on Late Payment Act 1998.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Leong on 21 July (HL Deb cols 1068-1070), what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the new section 2E(2) of the Commercial Payments and Interest on Late Payment Act 1998.
The Government has assessed section 2E(2) as part of the wider impact assessment for the Commercial Payments Bill as a whole, where the measures are aimed at addressing the estimated £11 billion cost of late payments to cost the UK economy each year.
Section 2E(2) provides a targeted exemption from the statutory payment term restrictions, where the purchaser is the smaller party, preserving flexibility for smaller purchasers when contracting with larger suppliers. The impact assessment looks at the costs of businesses identifying and implementing exemptions. Exemptions introduce additional administrative burdens for businesses, with larger estimated costs for large businesses compared to smaller ones. The full assessment can be found in the costs and benefits analysis annex of the published impact assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c054b11263ce46c3690c7c/prompt-payments-primary-legislation-impact-assessment.pdf
Lords motion to approve. Amendment to regret debated and withdrawn. Original motion agreed to on question.
Lords motion to approve. Amendment to regret debated and withdrawn. Original motion agreed to on question.
Moved by
Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Moved by
Lord Sharpe of Epsom
My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for explaining and introducing the statutory instruments, to the first of which, as he has noted, I have tabled a regret amendment. The instruments risk making it easier, quicker and cheaper for unions to secure a mandate for strike action, while...
My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for explaining and introducing the statutory instruments, to the first of which, as he has noted, I have tabled a regret amendment. The instruments risk making it easier, quicker and cheaper for unions to secure a mandate for strike action, while...
My Lords, I am enormously grateful to the Minister, who actually answered my questions. I hope that that is not a bad sign. Is that a bad sign? I think that we should be told.
That was a spirited and enjoyable debate, and I thank everybody who took part in it....
My Lords, I am enormously grateful to the Minister, who actually answered my questions. I hope that that is not a bad sign. Is that a bad sign? I think that we should be told.
That was a spirited and enjoyable debate, and I thank everybody who took part in it....
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of introducing a visitor levy on the cost of domestic travel and holidays within the United Kingdom.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of introducing a visitor levy on the cost of domestic travel and holidays within the United Kingdom.
This Government believe in empowering mayors. Mayors will decide whether introducing a levy is the right choice, as is common for local leaders in countries all around the world. Mayors will need to consider the appropriate balance between supporting local economic priorities, including tourism, ensuring a levy is affordable and providing stability and certainty for business.
My Lords, the Government’s treatment of the hospitality sector over the last two years has been marked by neglect, indifference and deeply damaging policies. This summer, many families would have been looking forward to enjoying their summer holidays, but the Government have planned to introduce a tax on their holidays. This tax will disproportionately harm lower income families in Britain and the smaller hospitality businesses that provide cheaper holidays. That exposes the hollowness of the new Prime Minister’s own stated mission to bring down the cost of living. Does the Minister agree that the new Prime Minister should change course, put small businesses and British families first and abandon the family holiday tax?
My Lords, the Government’s treatment of the hospitality sector over the last two years has been marked by neglect, indifference and deeply damaging policies. This summer, many families would have been looking forward to enjoying their summer holidays, but the Government have planned to introduce a tax on their holidays. This tax will disproportionately harm lower income families in Britain and the smaller hospitality businesses that provide cheaper holidays. That exposes the hollowness of the new Prime Minister’s own stated mission to bring down the cost of living. Does the Minister agree that the new Prime Minister should change course, put small businesses and British families first and abandon the family holiday tax?
The visitor levy was announced on 25 November 2025 and a consultation on the design of the levy powers was launched in the Budget. The consultation has now closed, and the response will be published—perhaps the noble Lord will not be surprised to hear me say this—in due course. We expect that local leaders will be able to introduce the levy before the end of this Parliament. I am afraid I do not accept the wider characterisation from the noble Lord. As he knows, we have done a great deal to support the hospitality industry, including pubs and live music venues, through business rates support and through our Great British Summer Savings scheme, which is now well advanced.
Moved by
Lord Sharpe of Epsom
18: Clause 3, page 7, leave out lines 3 to 16
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment seeks to probe the scope and impact of exempting upwards payments from the restriction on payment terms, given the fact that many of the suppliers will still be small or medium businesses.
Moved by
Lord Sharpe of Epsom
18: Clause 3, page 7, leave out lines 3 to 16
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment seeks to probe the scope and impact of exempting upwards payments from the restriction on payment terms, given the fact that many of the suppliers will still be small or medium businesses.
My Lords, it is a pleasure to introduce group 4, which primarily covers the important issue of the definitions of different sized businesses. Before I open that debate, I will touch on the other amendments in this group.
Amendment 18, which was signed by my noble friends Lord Hunt of Wirral...
My Lords, it is a pleasure to introduce group 4, which primarily covers the important issue of the definitions of different sized businesses. Before I open that debate, I will touch on the other amendments in this group.
Amendment 18, which was signed by my noble friends Lord Hunt of Wirral...
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation and for the context around some of the amendments that he has provided. I thank all noble Lords who spoke in the debate, especially my noble friend Lord Holmes. I will be brief in response.
I totally accept that the...
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation and for the context around some of the amendments that he has provided. I thank all noble Lords who spoke in the debate, especially my noble friend Lord Holmes. I will be brief in response.
I totally accept that the...
My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, for introducing his amendment. I cannot really improve on what has already been said, except to say that this issue has been raised with His Majesty’s Opposition in the run-up to this Committee stage....
My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, for introducing his amendment. I cannot really improve on what has already been said, except to say that this issue has been raised with His Majesty’s Opposition in the run-up to this Committee stage....
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Holmes of Richmond for this amendment. I am sorry that noble Lords have caught me eating a toffee, which was a terrible error.
The ability to charge statutory interest on late payments was established by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act...
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Holmes of Richmond for this amendment. I am sorry that noble Lords have caught me eating a toffee, which was a terrible error.
The ability to charge statutory interest on late payments was established by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act...
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Lansley for speaking in this debate and introducing his amendments. Banning retention payments is one of the key changes that this Bill will introduce, but it is also one of the most contested, so I will begin by outlining our general position...
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Lansley for speaking in this debate and introducing his amendments. Banning retention payments is one of the key changes that this Bill will introduce, but it is also one of the most contested, so I will begin by outlining our general position...
I totally understand where the noble Lord is coming from, of course, and I think we have indicated already that we are broadly supportive of the direction of travel. What he is in
effect saying is that the suppliers have to behave better, reduce defects and do all sorts of...
I totally understand where the noble Lord is coming from, of course, and I think we have indicated already that we are broadly supportive of the direction of travel. What he is in
effect saying is that the suppliers have to behave better, reduce defects and do all sorts of...